15 Unmistakable Qualities of Bad Managers - Transparency

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15 unmistakable qualities of bad

managers
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Linda Le Phan (https://transparency.kununu.com/author/lindalephan/) • November 8, 2018
(https://transparency.kununu.com/unmistakable-qualities-of-bad-managers/)
There’s a quite popular saying that goes: “employees don’t quit their jobs, they
quit their managers.” And there’s a lot of truth in that saying if you think about
it.
Your manager – or boss – typically has a HUGE influence on what your job
actually looks like from day-to-day, how you feel about coming into work, and
what your career path will be in the foreseeable future. Your relationship with
them is so crucial that you often have to manage them to some extent too, as
an employee, to keep things going smoothly (read about how to manage your
manager – and yes it’s a thing (https://transparency.kununu.com/how-to-
manage-your-boss-manager-yes-its-a-thing/)).
(https://www.kununu.com/us?
utm_source=transparency_blog&utm_medium=in_line_banner&utm_campaign
=your_awesome)
We can’t say that this popular saying (that people quit managers, not jobs) is
100% true at all times though: there are many different things that impact any
employee’s happiness at work (https://b2b.kununu.com/blog/what-makes-
employees-happy-infographic), plus studies have shown that there are other
reasons besides their manager that are just as likely to drive employees to quit
(https://hbr.org/2018/01/why-people-really-quit-their-jobs). But all things
considered, you still can’t overlook the impact your manager typically has on
your work-life. It couldn’t be more true than if you’re so unlucky as to have a
bad manager.
Since we’ve already done a roundup of qualities of great leaders

(https://transparency.kununu.com/compelling-qualities-of-great-leaders/) that
people really love (it’s one of our best articles of all time), we figured why not
do something similar…except this time a roundup of top qualities that make a
bad manager. To do just that, we went and asked a couple of dozen experts to
weigh in on this one simple question:
“What are some unmistakable qualities of a bad manager?”

Their answers all boiled down to 15 undesirable qualities that, when exhibited in
the workplace, wreaks havoc on employee happiness and morale… and yes,
drives employees to quit. Keep in mind that these don’t include obvious
negative qualities that you likely wouldn’t want to find in anyone you work
closely with let alone your manager, such as lack of ethics or morale compass,
arrogance, and self-centeredness.
15 unmistakable qualities of a bad

manager:

1. Takes credit for others’ work
“A good manager always takes responsibility for the performance of their team
and won’t throw any of their team members “under the bus” while still
providing the team members with all the praise in public, even for ideas that the
manager would’ve come up with themselves. A bad manager is the opposite.

They take all the credit and blame their employees for the failures, which
obliterates trust and leads to the team starting to also cover for themselves as
opposed to working for the best of the company.”
-Jesse Nieminen, Co-Founder of Viima (https://www.viima.com)
“There’s nothing worse than working for a manager that’s willing and happy to
claim any big wins the team achieves, but deflects responsibility when times are
tough and losses come around. Team wins and losses should be shared
together, with management leading the way to ensure wins are multiplied and
losses minimized.”
-Kris Hughes, Senior Content Marketing Manager at ProjectManager.com

(http://projectmanager.com/)
2. Doesn’t show appreciation or give recognition to

employees
“We all like to be told we’ve done a great job, and some managers may
overlook that when leading a team. You should always let people know when
they’re doing a good job, it’s extremely motivating and shows you respect them
professionally.”
-Matt Reaney, Founder of Big Cloud (http://www.bigcloud.io/)
“They see you, their employee, as simply a set of hands and feet paid to get a
job done. They don’t ask about you personally, because they don’t care. If it
doesn’t have to do with getting the job done, they don’t care.”
-Michael Wilkinson, CMF, CPF, Founder and Managing Director of Leadership

Strategies, Inc. (http://www.leadstrat.com) and Author of “The Secrets of
Facilitation”

“A manager is the one leading their team and will also be the one that knows
when to give credit where credit is due. If they cannot appreciate instances
where their team exceeds their expectations, it will be a source of demotivation.
This will also worsen if the manager does not give credit to their team while also
taking all the credit for themselves.”
Sean Si, CEO and Founder of SEO Hacker (https://seo-hacker.net/), Qeryz, Sigil
and Workplays
3. Micromanages
“A poor manager will micro-manage his or her team. They will see only one way
to accomplish a task and will not value the input of others. Team members are
not encouraged to grow, mistakes are frowned upon and unless a task is
completed exactly as the manager wants it completed (even if completion in
another manner achieves a positive outcome) the manager won’t recognize the
success.”
-Cynthia Corsetti, CPCC, SPHR, Executive Leadership Coach at Cynthia Corsetti

Coaching, LLC (http://www.cynthiacorsetticoaching.com/)
“Bad managers fail to give their team personal independence. They over-
delegate and over-assign. Employees who feel they don’t have freedom will
become disillusioned and frustrated.”
-Nicholas Hobson, Workplace Psychologist and Co-Founder of

PsychologyCompass.com (https://psychologycompass.com/)
“Controlling your team in minute detail is a terrible trait for a manager. You
should hire a team you trust to do the work and give them the freedom to carry
it out. Micromanaging leads to a lack of motivation and creativity!”

“Treating employees like school children is a surefire way to demotivate your
team. The best way to avoid micromanagement is to set up clear KPIs.. If your
team is consistently hitting their numbers, there’s no reason to monitor/manage
how they get things done. For example, if your sales employees are consistently
hitting their goals, there’s no reason to monitor their customer communications
or make a big fuss about what time they come into work and leave each day.”
-David Scarola, Vice President of The Alternative Board

(https://www.thealternativeboard.com/)
“A clear-cut sign of a bad manager is someone who jumps in and takes over
every time there is a problem, even the slightest one. If your employees are
resistant to bringing problems to you, because they fear you’ll take it over,
there’s a good chance you are doing something wrong. A great manager rejects
the dependence of the their teammates and instead asks “how would you solve
this problem if I wasn’t here? The #1 role of a manager is to grow people, and
when you solve a problem for them nobody grows.”
-Kevin Armstrong, Owner of The Alternative Board – Vancouver

(http://www.tabvancouver.com/)
4. Unable to trust (control freak)

“There are managers that are unable to give projects completely to their juniors.
The junior will do the work, but everything needs to be funneled through to the
manager for approval – which is ok on some things, but when a manager
refuses to let anything go without approval, it results in bottlenecks. You’ll have
juniors sitting around waiting for their manager to approve their work, so
there’s a huge loss of productivity. Managers need to be able to trust the
people they employ to do their work correctly.”
-Michael Sunderland, Managing Director at Full Stack Talent

(http://www.fullstacktalent.com)

“Similar to micromanagement, the untrusting manager wants the employee to
get the work done, but is excessive in checking timing and details. They may
feel that employees who are very successful are a threat, and so place greater
emphasis in trying to catch them doing the wrong thing.”
-Richard Pummell, Human Resources Lead at DevelopIntelligence

(http://www.developintelligence.com/)
5. Plays favorites
“Managers that pick out certain team members as their favorites are…bad news.
Often there are some members of the team that are more similar in terms of
culture, values or even work ethic, so it’s easy for managers to relate more easily
to these people. However, when this results in them promoting their work over
others, giving more weight to their opinions, or giving more assistance, it
crosses the line. Other team members are quick to notice and can easily
become disengaged as a result.”
-Fiona Adler, Founder of Actioned.com (http://actioned.com/)
“It can be hard to be recognised in the world of work, but even more so if your
manager favours certain members of the team.
Staff can feel really unmotivated if they have a manager with favourites; it
means their hard work goes unnoticed. Showing favouritism towards specific
employees also leads members of the team to feel frustrated with the company
dynamic when it comes to completing deadlines and making complaints about
those certain members of staff.”
-Chris Wain, Sales Director for Africa Travel (http://www.africatravel.co.uk/)

6. Doesn’t provide clear or realistic
direction
“A bad manager is one who does not clearly define for employees their
responsibilities. This can lead to confusion amongst team members and work
not getting done if no one understands that the tasks are their responsibility.”
-Nate Masterson, CEO of Maple Holistics (http://www.mapleholistics.com)
“[One thing you’ll find from bad managers is] setting unrealistic expectations
with no guidance. There could be a lack of teamwork that is needed in order to
complete a project. It is important for managers to know the difference between
overworking their employees and challenging them. It is important for
employees to be resourceful and learn their own way through a project, but it is
also vital to show them the vital resources.”
-Jacob Dayan, Esq., CEO and Co-founder of Community Tax

(https://www.communitytax.com)
7. Is unavailable or avoids tough

conversations
“As a business owner, your door should always be figuratively and literally open
to employees. It’s up to you to foster a collaborative environment, where team
members feel comfortable approaching you with questions, concerns, new
ideas, and even criticisms. If you set a tone of being too busy or too important
for employees, you’ll likely miss out on the valuable insight they can offer.”


“Dealing with conflict is part of the job description for managers—in fact, a
study from the American Management Association found that 24% of a
manager’s day is spent managing conflict. It’s a challenging task that demands
emotional intelligence along with an arsenal of conflict resolution techniques—
and a manager simply isn’t doing their job if they shy away from conflict
management responsibilities.”
-Ben Aston, Founder of The Digital Project Manager

(https://thedigitalprojectmanager.com/)
8. Lack of empathy or compassion (low

emotional intelligence)
“Effective leadership at any level requires the ability to recognize and control
one’s own emotions. It also requires the ability to show empathy, recognize and
influence the emotions of others. A poor manager lacks this skill.”

“Another quality of a bad manager is not caring if their employees are

overworked. An employee’s mental health is crucial to the employee’s life as
well as their productivity at work, and a boss who is not in tune with what their
employees are experiencing does not value the needs of their employees.”
-Nate Masterson, CEO of Maple Holistics (http://www.mapleholistics.com)
“When a manager fails to make a concerted effort to understand the needs and
desires of their employees, and how they can help them reach both individual
and group goals, morale suffers. This causes lowered productivity and a higher
turnover rate.”
-Kieran Canisius, CEO & Co-Founder of Seuss Recruiting (https://pharma-

recruitment.com/),
SHARE YOUR Seuss
WORK Consulting, and Zocket
EXPERIENCES NOW. (https://zocket.me/)
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9. Unable to listen and respond to

feedback (poor listener)
“This is probably the most damaging characteristic that a manager can have.
They won’t listen to a person speaking and therefore they never truly get to the
route of the issue. Instead, the manager hears a few words and begins to
interrupt with a solution, which may not even be the right solution because they
didn’t truly listen to the problem. The manager with poor listening skills has no
chance of having a productive and effective team.”

“The number one thing that defines a bad manager for me is an inability to
listen and respond to feedback from staff. Individual team-members are always
a rich source of information – they could hear real-life feedback from
customers, for example, or have insights into where processes could be refined.
A manager who’s too arrogant to realise the value of this information not only
misses out on opportunities to improve things; They also alienate the staff by
failing to listen. As a consultant who’s zipped around numerous companies for
over a decade, I’ve encountered a great many managers like this.”
-Ben Taylor, Founder of HomeWorkingClub (http://www.homeworkingclub.com)
“[With bad managers…] One way communication is rampant. In any meeting

they lead, their voice dominates the air waves. They don’t care what you think,
they don’t ask questions, and when you give input, their focus is explaining why
you are wrong.”

Facilitation”

“Bad managers speak more than they listen. When you’re the loudest voice in
the room, it’s easy to forget that you hired a bunch of smart people that are
more qualified to do their jobs than you are. Managers sometimes consider
employee silence to be an indicator of agreement or an absence of ideas.
However, employee silence is more likely due to feeling uncomfortable

speaking. Perhaps they don’t want to interrupt a manager who leaves little room
for others to speak, or they think their idea will go over poorly, or they don’t
want to point out flaws in a manager’s plan.”
-Dave Lane, CEO of Inventiv (https://inventiv.io/)
10. Doesn’t lead by example

“I’m sure everyone’s seen a manager who talks to their employees about the
times being tough and everyone having to work longer hours for the same pay,
then leaving the office early to play golf. While hypocrisy often isn’t this
obvious, it’s a common problem with far-reaching consequences for the morale
and performance of the team, as well as the credibility of the manager. A
manager always leads by example, whether they want it or not.”
-Jesse Nieminen, Co-Founder of Viima (https://www.viima.com)
“Pitching in with the ‘grunt’ work, being one of the team and showing up is so
important for leading others. No one wants to work for someone who never
shows up, doesn’t do work themselves or acts superior. Be someone they can
follow in the right path!”
“[Also known as a] “do as I say, not as I do” mentality. As an employer, all eyes
are on you, which means, you need to be your model employee. You can’t
expect your employees to be chipper, if you’re bringing in a bad attitude every
day. You also can’t expect your employees to conquer challenges, that you don’t
know how to conquer yourself. Knowing the ins and outs of your industry is
paramount to good leadership, as is setting the positive tone for company
culture.”

“[Similar to those who micromanage their team), managers who require

excellence from their team members, but do not produce excellent results in
their own daily work – leading by example – are sure to fail in time, because
they simply will not earn respect from their team.”

11. Lacks humility or self-awareness

“I believe lack of humility is a trait of a bad manager because, even though they
are in a position of leadership, managers don’t have all the answers. If they
pretend like they do (and I have seen many managers/leaders do this), then
they end up wasting time and valuable resources. A good manager realizes they
can’t accomplish everything on their own and that’s when they’re able to
leverage the strengths of their team.”
-Tyler Hanna, CEO and Co-Founder of 8-bit Rex (https://8bitrex.com/)
“[Some bad managers] have such low self-awareness that they blame others for
their own failings. They don’t see how their action and inaction contribute
significantly to the problems they have.”

Facilitation”

12. Manages with fear, not fairness
“The manager [who leads with fear] wants employees to feel they are lucky to
have a job, and whenever a request is made it includes a tacit threat that if the
request isn’t delivered, there will be ramifications down the road. This can also
include the manager who selects favorites and gives others the cold shoulder –
and will frequently change how they treat an individual employee. Employees
never know where they stand, and generally dislike any interactions with the
manager.”
-Richard Pummell, Human Resources Lead at DevelopIntelligence

(http://www.developintelligence.com/)
“The old-style “my way or the highway” mindset of management has no place in
modern society, but there are still plenty of managers out there that try to lead
this way. While a fear-based style might get some short-term results, the long-
term negative impact will always be more substantial. Servant leadership is the
only way to drive consistent results in a business world now that is as complex
and dynamic as it’s ever been.”

13. Is complacent about poor

performing or toxic team members
“Keeping a bad teammate on the team is poor decision. It’s not doing any
service to the weak team member and it’s not fair to all the other teammates. It
is the most dangerous and most common sign of a weak manager by suffering
a poor performing team member and not cutting them loose before it’s too
late.”
-Zach Hendrix Co-Founder of GreenPal (https://www.yourgreenpal.com)


14. Doesn’t follow through or recognize

their own responsibilities
“One of the main qualities I see in a bad manager is that they think they get
more freedoms, when in fact they actually get more work. I’ve seen it time and
time again, someone becomes a manager and thinks they don’t have to follow
all the rules or do the small duties it takes to maintain a team. In short, they get
lazy, and there’s no quicker way to get your team to quit on you than by being
egotistical and entitled.”
-Nick Glassett, Founder of OriginLeadership.com (http://originleadership.com/)
“Countless managers receive requests, questions, concerns etc from their team
and either 1) never respond or 2) respond and then fail to follow through. This
can be very demotivating for team members and sets the tone for a company
culture of dropping the ball. Great managers are so organized, their team knows
they can count on them to follow up.”
-Kevin Armstrong, Owner of The Alternative Board – Vancouver

(http://www.tabvancouver.com/)
“This person is the opposite extreme [of a micromanager]. They think that they
can get everyone working at capacity with just the very occasional bit of
guidance. They often arrive late, take long lunches, and leave early on a regular
basis. They over-value the contribution of their strategic thinking and are quick
to take credit for their team members’ work. Pretty soon, people resent these
types of managers.”
-Fiona Adler, Founder of Actioned.com (http://actioned.com/)

15. Doesn’t live up to workplace values
“Bad managers will demonstrate inconsistencies in the values of the company.
They might advertise the principles as part of the mission statement, but their
day-to-day actions say otherwise. And of course: Actions speak louder than
words. Research shows, inconsistencies in values is recipe for employee
burnout.”
-Nicholas Hobson, Workplace Psychologist and Co-Founder of

PsychologyCompass.com (https://psychologycompass.com/)
Do you agree with these bad manager qualities? Is there one that we missed
but you think is worth mentioning? Let us know @kununu_US
(http://www.twitter.com/kununu_US)!
Follow us on social media:

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+++
Linda Le Phan is the Senior Content Marketing Manager at kununu US

(http://www.kununu.com/), a place where job seekers can get an authentic view of
life at a company and where employers have a trusted platform to better engage
talent. When she’s not creating content about the modern workplace, company
culture, and life & work hacks, she is probably going out to get an iced coffee
(even in Boston winter), raiding the snack drawer, or jamming to kununu’s Spotify
playlist.

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kununu Blog (https://transparency.kununu.com/)

15 unmistakable qualities of bad

Since we’ve already done a roundup of qualities of great leaders

“What are some unmistakable qualities of a bad manager?”

15 unmistakable qualities of a bad

1. Takes credit for others’ work

SHARE YOUR WORK EXPERIENCES NOW. ( https://www.kununu.com/us/review ) 

-Jesse Nieminen, Co-Founder of Viima (https://www.viima.com)

-Kris Hughes, Senior Content Marketing Manager at ProjectManager.com

2. Doesn’t show appreciation or give recognition to

-Matt Reaney, Founder of Big Cloud (http://www.bigcloud.io/)

-Michael Wilkinson, CMF, CPF, Founder and Managing Director of Leadership

-Cynthia Corsetti, CPCC, SPHR, Executive Leadership Coach at Cynthia Corsetti

-Nicholas Hobson, Workplace Psychologist and Co-Founder of

-Matt Reaney, Founder of Big Cloud (http://www.bigcloud.io/)

SHARE YOUR WORK EXPERIENCES NOW. ( https://www.kununu.com/us/review ) 

-David Scarola, Vice President of The Alternative Board

-Kevin Armstrong, Owner of The Alternative Board – Vancouver

4. Unable to trust (control freak)

-Michael Sunderland, Managing Director at Full Stack Talent

SHARE YOUR WORK EXPERIENCES NOW. ( https://www.kununu.com/us/review ) 

-Richard Pummell, Human Resources Lead at DevelopIntelligence

-Fiona Adler, Founder of Actioned.com (http://actioned.com/)

-Chris Wain, Sales Director for Africa Travel (http://www.africatravel.co.uk/)

SHARE YOUR WORK EXPERIENCES NOW. ( https://www.kununu.com/us/review ) 

-Nate Masterson, CEO of Maple Holistics (http://www.mapleholistics.com)

-Jacob Dayan, Esq., CEO and Co-founder of Community Tax

7. Is unavailable or avoids tough

-David Scarola, Vice President of The Alternative Board

SHARE YOUR WORK EXPERIENCES NOW. ( https://www.kununu.com/us/review ) 

-Ben Aston, Founder of The Digital Project Manager

8. Lack of empathy or compassion (low

-Cynthia Corsetti, CPCC, SPHR, Executive Leadership Coach at Cynthia Corsetti

“Another quality of a bad manager is not caring if their employees are

-Nate Masterson, CEO of Maple Holistics (http://www.mapleholistics.com)

-Kieran Canisius, CEO & Co-Founder of Seuss Recruiting (https://pharma-

9. Unable to listen and respond to

-Cynthia Corsetti, CPCC, SPHR, Executive Leadership Coach at Cynthia Corsetti

-Ben Taylor, Founder of HomeWorkingClub (http://www.homeworkingclub.com)

“[With bad managers…] One way communication is rampant. In any meeting

-Michael Wilkinson, CMF, CPF, Founder and Managing Director of Leadership

However, employee silence is more likely due to feeling uncomfortable

-Dave Lane, CEO of Inventiv (https://inventiv.io/)

10. Doesn’t lead by example

-Jesse Nieminen, Co-Founder of Viima (https://www.viima.com)

-Matt Reaney, Founder of Big Cloud (http://www.bigcloud.io/)

-David Scarola, Vice President of The Alternative Board

“[Similar to those who micromanage their team), managers who require

-Kris Hughes, Senior Content Marketing Manager at ProjectManager.com

11. Lacks humility or self-awareness

-Tyler Hanna, CEO and Co-Founder of 8-bit Rex (https://8bitrex.com/)

-Michael Wilkinson, CMF, CPF, Founder and Managing Director of Leadership

SHARE YOUR WORK EXPERIENCES NOW. ( https://www.kununu.com/us/review ) 

-Richard Pummell, Human Resources Lead at DevelopIntelligence

-Kris Hughes, Senior Content Marketing Manager at ProjectManager.com

13. Is complacent about poor

-Zach Hendrix Co-Founder of GreenPal (https://www.yourgreenpal.com)

14. Doesn’t follow through or recognize

-Nick Glassett, Founder of OriginLeadership.com (http://originleadership.com/)

-Kevin Armstrong, Owner of The Alternative Board – Vancouver

-Fiona Adler, Founder of Actioned.com (http://actioned.com/)

SHARE YOUR WORK EXPERIENCES NOW. ( https://www.kununu.com/us/review ) 